Head of Winter Olympics in South Korea resigns from his post after workers’ rights violations

16 May 2016 09:51

On Tuesday the head of
the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games in South Korea, Cho Yang-ho, announced that
he will step down from his post. Mr Cho is the chairman of the Korean
conglomerate Hanjin and he claimed the reason for his resignation was to focus
on the troubled Hanjin Shipping business.

The BWI has previously revealed how workers at the construction sites for the 2018 Winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang face both dangerous working conditions and unpaid wages, and labour rights abuses. The real numbers of deaths and accidents are kept hidden by the organizers of the Olympics but the local construction union has so far revealed how at least two workers have died in the preparations.

The BWI calls on the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee to appoint a candidate who has the leadership and vision to work closely with trade unions to ensure that health, safety and decent working conditions are in place for the preparations of the 2018 Winter Olympic.